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MBA v Pulse v Nitro ??

Mat

Mat

Mat

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
13,928
I've just been reading some old articles (Dec 2020) reporting the apparent EOL for the MBA cards (and subsequent possible reversal of this decision) but what I can't quite figure out is the difference between the Pulse, Nitro etc. versions of all these cards.

I'm fairly new to the game and seemingly picked the wrong time to build a new PC and was hoping to pick up a Sapphire 6800 XT MBA (not really understanding what the MBA was all about) but beyond different clock speeds, I can't see what the differences are.

Can anyone shed some light on it at all, assuming there is more light to shed?

Many thanks
 

FoxEye

FoxEye

FoxEye

Caporegime
Joined
17 Feb 2006
Posts
29,263
Location
Cornwall
All the MBA cards are made by AMD's partner company that builds the reference cards for them (is it PCPartner this time around?). They won't feature any AIB logos or branding, and every MBA card should be identical (that I've seen).

The Pulse and the Nitro are designed and assembled by Sapphire themselves, not AMD's reference card partner. They look completely different. From memory, Pulse is Sapphire's budget brand and Nitro is their premium brand?

Apart from the GPU chips themselves, Sapphire will probably have considerable flexibility in choosing how to design their boards, what quality of components to use, which corners to cut. How good to make the cooling solution, which fans to use, etc, etc.

Sapphire are considered here to be one of the better AMD AIBs, although I've had dodgy Sapphire cards personally.

And mudding the waters a bit, PCPartner apparently own Zotac and Sapphire anyhow?

But anyway the cards themselves are likely to differ quite a bit in terms of construction and possibly build quality.

So in that case you have to read review of the individual models, and see how they are received by the tech press and other users.

I've not heard anything bad about the AMD "MBA" reference designs. In fact I'm trying to buy one myself (as is world + dog). The fact that they're cheaper does help me make the choice :p
 
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